New Feature Film from the Renaud Brothers to be released in the fall of 2011
Warrior Champions tells the emotional and inspiring story of a group of severely wounded American Soldiers, as they fight to turn nightmares of war into Olympic dreams.
As little as a year after losing limbs or suffering paralysis fighting for their country in Iraq, Kortney Clemons, Scott Winkler, Melissa Stockwell, and Carlos Leon, set out to do what many thought impossible; to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Through failure, pain and triumph Warrior Champions follows these solider athletes for a full year as they learn to cope with their injuries, and compete for a coveted spot on the US Paralympic team. Along the way the film goes inside the famous Ward 57 of Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Melissa and Scott mentor recently wounded soldiers who are battling depression. ‘I was in your shoes not too long ago.’ Melissa tells Juan, a young soldier who lost both of his legs in Iraq. ‘But I’m telling you, I’ve done more in life with one leg than I ever would have done with two.’ The Doctors at Walter Reed say they never would have dreamed that a wounded soldier could make it to the Paralympics so quickly after sustaining life threatening traumatic war injuries, and these soldier athletes give the patients at Walter Reed the hope many thought they had lost forever.
Though at times heart wrenching, Warrior Champions is not a sad tale of the tragedy of war, but rather an uplifting testament to the human spirit that challenges every notion of what it means to be disabled.
visit the website www.warriorchampions.com
